Sandwiched between the recently concluded Intel Extreme Masters Dallas and the upcoming BLAST Premier: Spring Final, the Pinnacle Cup Championship should keep fans of Tier 1 Counter-Strike: Global Offensive sated for a little bit.
The Pinnacle Cup Championship runs from June 8-11 in Lund, Sweden. Eight top teams will go head-to-head for their share of $250,000 in prize money. The tournament playoffs will play out in front of a live audience in the Sparbanken Skåne Arena.
Any fans looking to tune into the Pinnacle Cup Championship can find the matches on Twitch at this link.
Pinnacle Cup format
The Pinnacle Cup follows a typical group stage/playoffs tournament format.
Two groups of four teams will play through a double-elimination bracket. Opening matches will be single-match contests, and all subsequent matches will be best-of-three. The top two teams from each group move on to the playoffs with the winner in the upper bracket and the runner-up in the lower bracket.
The playoffs will also run through a double-elimination bracket with all matches as bo3.
Teams
The eight teams at the Pinnacle Cup Championship are:
- BIG (Group A)
- Fnatic (Group A)
- Heroic (Group A)
- MIBR (Group A)
- Astralis (Group B)
- Evil Geniuses (Group B)
- Imperial Esports (Group B)
- Team Finest (Group B)
Although none of the world’s top five teams will be in attendance, there will be some strong competition in Sweden. Heroic will be the team to beat, although BIG showed a strong form at IEM Dallas. Astralis could also be a dark horse contender. For most of the other teams, Pinnacle is a chance to earn some reps.
There are two teams that fans should keep a close eye on. The first is Fnatic, who are playing with a new roster — minus one unannounced player who Patrik “f0rest” Lindberg will fill in for at the event. The second is Evil Geniuses, who recently announced a 15-man roster. Although the lineup is the same as normal, EG promised that the best players will take the top spots, which will put extra pressure on anyone underperforming.
